Automatic yarn-coil winding machine



Dec. 8, 1964 s. FURsT 3,160,358

AUTOMATIC YARN-corr. wINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1962 4Sheets-Sheet'l F/GJ /040 /02 f5 2 @a y 10a 5 E i] 704W 92a I 211 /06///f' "ff i5* ma l. 49 ,7 i

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AUTOMATIC YARN-COIL WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet2 Dec. 8, 1964 s. FURsT 3,160,358

AUTOMATIC YARN-COIL WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet4 Y 3,160,358 AUTOMATIC YARN-con; winnaar; Maar-maa Stefan Frst,Munchen-Gladbach, Germany, assigner to Walter Reiners, Manchen-Gladbach,Germany Filed Sept. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 227,687 l Claims priority,application (Sierrnanay Sept. 30, 1961 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-355) Myinvention relates to automatic machines for rewinding bobbins, cops andother relatively small yarn coils into larger packages of a desired typeand size'such as crosswound coils also called cones and cheeses. In amore particular aspect my invention relates to multi-station windingmachines in which a multiplicity of individually operable winding unitsare provided with a mobile servicing unit or tender whicht travels alonga row or group of such stations and automatically performs any neededservicing operation, such as knotting the broken yarn ends from thesupply coil and the take-up spool tgether, in order to place afault-responsively stopped station back to normal operation.

There are automatic winding machines of this type in which rtheindividual winding stations are automatically fed with yarn-supplycoils, such as cops, whenever a new supply coil is needed, particularlywhen the previously operative supply coil becomes exhaused. Generally,such automatic feeding operation at the individual stations of themachine is effected from a-magazine or through a con-k veyer belt.Diiliculties of proper timing are involved in ycases where the supplycoils are fed to the individual stations of the machine by means of aconveyor belt that receives its supply from a dilierent fabricatinglocation, for example at a spinning machine from which `the completedspinning cops are taken 'm order to be rewound into larger yarn packagesat the Winding stations ofthe Winding machine. With such a combinationof a winding machine with a spinning machine, the working capacity ofthe winding machine must be greater than that of the spinning machine inorder to reliably prevent clogging on the conveyer which feeds the coilsto the Winding machine. Consequently, when such winding machinescooperate with a given number of spinning spindles, it is inevitablethat one or the other winding station from time to time is nottemporarily provided with supply coils because the spinning machine doesnot produce a sutlicient number of suchl coils. This has the consequencethat the automaticv mechanisms in the winding machine that respond tothe absence of yarn in the winding stations are repeatedly raised intofutile operation. In multi-station inachines equipped with a servicingtender that travels along the row of winding stations, such temporarylack of coil supply at individual winding stations may have the resultthat the tender is time and again arrested in front of a winding stationto perform a servicing operation which is useless in the absence of theyarn supply, so that the tender during vthe same period of time isprevented from servicing other winding stations that may still beprovided with a sufficient yarn supply.

It is an object of my invention to minimize or eliminate theabove-mentioned disadvantages and to provide an automatic windingmachine in which the entire performance of each individual windingstation is stoppedV if no yarn-supply coil is furnished from the feedermeans of the machine.

Another, more specific object is to prevent, in a multistation windingmachine with a mobile tender, the imposition of any control action uponthe travelling tender by 3,169,358 Patented Dec. 8, 1964 Mice maticservicing equipment of coil winding machines by avoiding inherentlyfutile knotting attempts and thek like servicing operation; and it isalso an object, with respect to mobile-tendermulti-station windingmachines, to in` crease the eiiiciency and working capacity of thetender by eliminating the possibility of having the tender called uponto stop and attempt a knotting operation at an in` dividual station notproperly provided with a yarn-supply coil from-the feeder means of themachine. i

To achieve these objects, and in accordance with a feature of myinvention,in a yarn-packagewindingmachine comprising a multiplicity ofwinding stations with individual take-up spool drive means andhaving'yarnsupply coil feeder means for the stations, each of V the windingstations is equipped with a control device whose sensing component isresponsive to coil depletion of the feeder means in thestation. VThecontrol device is inV controlling connection with the spool drive meansso as to individually control the speed of the winding operation to therate or frequency of theV c oil supply from the feeder means.

It is particularlyadvantageous, however, to design the above-mentionedcontrol device as a switching apparatus whichautomatically 'stops theWinder drive of the winding station in response to absence of ayarn-supply'coil at the feeding location of the station, and whichapparatus automatically starts the drive uponresumption of the coilsupply from the feeder ymeans ofA the machine tothe station.

According to another, preferred feature of my inven-V tion, the samecontrol deviceis also provided with means for blocking and releasing theother working devices of the winding station that serve to eliminate yamfaults vand resulting stoppage as may be due to yarn breakage ordepletion of a yarn-supply coil. As a result, the control or switchingdevice that responds to depletion of coil supply from the feeder meansat the individual Winding station not only stops and re-starts theWinder drive in the station but-simultaneously prevents.k the operationof the auxiliary automatic knotting and related servicing devices at thetime the Winder drive is stopped, while again releasing such servicingdevices for operation when the Winder drive is re-started, Withoutaffecting the corresponding automatic operations in any of the otherwinding stations. Y

The above-mentioned and more specific objects, advantages and featuresof my invention, said features being set forth with particularity in theclaims annexed hereto;

will be apparent from the following in conjunction with the embodimentsof'winding machines according to the invention illustrated by Way ofexample on Y ing drawings in which: f

FIG. l is a cross-sectional side view of a multi-station windingmachine, the apper-taining mobile tender, Vbeing known as `such and notmodiied lby the invention proper, being represented only by afragmentary and partly sec tional view. f

FIGS. 2 and 3 are similar cross-sectional `side views of respectivelydifferent machines, modified in comparison with that of FIG. 1, and themobile tender being omitted.

FIG. 4 is a schematic and fragmentary front View of the winding machineaccording to FIG. l, the same view being also applicable to the machineaccordingto FIG. 2 or'FIG. 3. Y

The same reference characters are usedin all illustrationsffor denotingrespectively similar components.

In the drawings,.the invention is shown applied to aV multi-stationwinding machine of the type and fundamental design known, for example,from my United' States Patent No. 3,035,478,v assigned to the assigneeof the present invention. Design details of such machines, includingthose of the appertaining mobile tender, are

also known from the machines available under the tradethe accompany f 3mark .Autoconer from the American Schlafhorst'Corporation, Charlot-te,North Carolina, described in the book entitled Autoconer Manualpublished in 1962, of which a copy is available in the Patent OiiiceVlibrary.

However, the design and operation of such a machine' wil-l be describedbelow to .the extent neces-sary'or helpful lfrom beam 2 forward anddownward.- The lower end of the arm structure 5 carries a tubularsleeved which is joined with the beam 3 by a bracket 7.

A control shaft S, which during operation of the machine continuouslyturns a given angle forward and back, extends parallel to the top beam2- between the lateral frame structures of the machine. Aside from beingjournalled at its ends, the oscillating shaft 8 may alsobe supported inbearings between the individual winding stations, such as at 1a (FIG.2), depending upon the length of the shaft. Firmly mounted on shaft 8 ineach winding station is an entrainer 9 which is joined by a spring 10with a swing arm 11 rotatably seated on the shaft 8 and normally held bya spring against a stopf9a ofthe sides of the guide rail 4 thusmaintaining the tender in proper position dur-ing its travel.V Duringoperation of the machine, the tender 13 travels along the individualwinding stations and is temporarily arrested in front of any one windingstation that may require servicing at the time. The means for drivingthe tender 13 along the track beam :are not illustrated and describedherein because they are not essential to theV prent invention proper andmay be identical withzthose illustrated and described in the co-pendingapplication of S. Frst and M. Rhl, Serial No. 796,049, filed February27, 1959, now Patent No. 3,061,216. Y

The travel of the tender 13 is automatically stopped in the properservicing position relative to a winding station where the yarn-endseizing devices of the tender 13, pre-ferably consisting ,of airysuction nozzles as shown at 13C v and 13d in FIG. 2, can operate tosuctionally entrain thev yarn end of the take-up spool and the yarn endof the supply coil and to place both into the action range Yof aknotting device 13e which ties both ends together. For

further details of the tender and its operation, not essential to thepresent invention and known as such, reference may be had to my UnitedStates Patent No. 3,033,478 assigned-to the assignee of the presentinvention.

A winder drive shaft 15V (FIGS. l, 2), continuouslyV rotating duringoperation of the machine, extendsabove arm structure 5 in parallelrelation to the axis-of the top to that of the shaft 15. The shaft 17carries a frictionV roller 18 in each winding station. The two shafts 15and 1'7 are journalled in the lateral'lframe structures ofthe machineindependently ofthe carrier arms 5. If necessary, the shafts 15 and 17may also be Vsupported by bearings on other locations, for example at 1abetween two winding stations. y

A frame 2) is pivotally mounted at 20a on the arm 5 and yforms a journalyat 2Gb for the take-up spool 21 of lthe winding station. Alsojournalledlon the arm 5 is a yarn guiding drum: 22 with a drum shaft22a. A threearmed-lever 23 is pivoted at 23a to the carrier arm 5 and`is connected byv a link 24 with an intermediate friction roller 25.When-the lever 23 is turned clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 1,the intermediate roller 25 is lifted and then couples the -frictionroller 16 on the shaft 15 with the guiding drum 22. The take-up spool21,

gravity biased against the periphery of the drum 22, is then -entrainedin the winding-up direction, and the guiding groove 22b (FIG. '2)extending about the periphery of the guiding drum and `forming a loopclosed upon itself, reciprocates the incoming yarn back and forth alongthe take-up spool, thus producing the desired cross-wound yarn package.

When the lever 23 is turned counterclockwise about its pivot23a (FIG.1), the intermediate roller l25 is placed yproper winding conditions.

in coupling engagement with the reversely driven roller 18 so that nowthe guiding drum 22 and the entrained takeup spool 21 rotate intheunwinding direction. This is done only temporarily'whenever it isnecessary to unwind a certain length of yarn from the take-up spool forthe purpose of tying the yarn together with that coming from the supplycoil.

The arm structure Y5 further carries la main control lever 31 which isbiased by a spring 49 for clockwise motion about a pivoty 32. Alsomounted'on the arm structure 5 is 'a pivoted latch member 33 biased by aspring 34 for engagement vof its latch arm 35 with a catch recess 36 ofthe control level 31.

' Pivoted at 37a to the lower end of the arm structure 5 is a yarnVguard 37 which is normally biased into feeling engagement with the yarnF coming from the supply coil C and passing over the guiding drum22vonto the take-up spool 21. In the event of yarn breakage or when thesupply coil C is exhausted,'the guard 37 responds to the absence of yarnby turning clockwise from the position shown in FIG. l. As willbeffurther explained below, such deflection of the yarn guard has vtheeffect of stopping thewinding operation of the winding station and,

normally, causes the tender 13, upon itsnext passage, to be arrested atthe winding station for reestablishing The tube 6 attached to the lowerend of the arm structurev 5, carries at its bottom a holder 38 foraccommodating :the above-mentioned yarn-supply coil C, vsuch as a'spinning cop. The removal of a depleted coil C and the substitution of afull coil 'are effected automatically, for example, by control devicesas describedand illustrated in my co-pending applications, Serial No.704,983, tiled December 24, 1957 (now abandoned), and Serial No.

728,139, filed April 4, V1959, now Patent No. 3,077,311,

both assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

A horizontal pusher rod 41 links one arm of the drive control member 23with the main control lever 31. Pivoted tothe lower end of the maincontrol lever31 is a bell-crank lever 45 to which a reciprocatingmovement is v imparted by a linking rod 46. This reciprocating motion istransmitted from the oscillating control shaft 8 and the sensing .arm 11onto a lug at the lower end of the rod 46 and takes place whenever, andas long as, the swing arm 11 is free to participate in the oscillationof the entrainer 9, this being theA case when the tender 13 is notAlocated at:

,the winding station. The oscillatory motion of the swing; arm 11, rod46 and bell-crank lever 45 ceases when al wheel 11 on the approachingtender forces the swing lever 11 counterclockwise out of engagement withtheentrainer stopv 9a, this condition being shown in FIG. l. The rightarm 47 of the bell-crank lever 45Y forms. at.'

its end a lug 48 which, when the yarn guard 37 is in position of normaloperation, can catch behind the top of the yarn guard whenever, duringthe above-mentioned oscillating movement of the lever 45, the arm 47 isin lowermost position. However, when the yarn guard 37 is deflectedclockwise due to breakage or absence of yarn, the lug 48, during itsclockwise stroke will Yplace itself upon the top of the yarn guard 37.This has the result that during the oscillating motion imparted to lever45 by the rod 46, a pushing force is exerted by the lever arm 47 uponthe lower end of the main control lever 31 with the effect of turningthe control lever 31 counterclockwise in Opposition to the biasingspring 49. This releases the latch member 33 from the catch recess 36 ofthe control lever 31. Consequently, the control lever 31 remains deectedin the counterclockwise direction until, at a later time, the controllever 31 is pushed back to the original position. v

The just-mentioned counterclockwise motion of the main control lever 31from the illustrated to the relieved position is imparted through thelinking rod 41 to the drive control lever 23 which now moves theintermediate friction roller 25 away from the forward driving roller 16to the positionshown in FIG. l and the drum 22 now stops. Duringsubsequent counterclockwise motion of the drive control lever 23, thecoupling roller 25 is placed into engagement with the-reversing roller18. This causes the guiding drum 22 to rotate in the unwinding directionin order to expose a sutlicient length of yarn from the take-up spool asrequired for the seizing and knotting of the yarn ends. Thejust-mentioned further motion of the lever 23, however, cornes about byoperation of the tender 13 as will be explained.

The tender 13, when passing by an individual winding station, must checkwhether the winding operation in that station is still in good order.For the purpose of such checking, a horizontal tappet 50 (FIG. l) islinked to the latch member 33 and cams an extension 51. If, due tobreakage or absence of yarn inthe Winding station, the latch member 33is turned clockwise about its pivot 33a in the manner described above,the tappet 50 moves toward the right and enters into the travellingrange of a switch arm 52 which is pivotally mounted on the housingstructure of the tender 13 and is normally in the illustrated uprightposition. When the tender 13 approaches a winding station in which thetappet 50 has previously shifted to the right, the switchlarm 52 isengaged by the protruding end of the tappet and is turned in one or theother direction depending uponvwhether the tender 13 arrives from theleft or right (relating to FIG. 2). The deflecting motion of the switcharm 52 is transmitted by a shaft 52a to the internal mechanisms (notshown) of the tender 13 which cause it to stopv and to operate itsyarn-end seeking and knotting devices. During such Voperation, a tappet(not shown) protruding out of the tender 13 pushes against the drivecontrol lever 23 and thereby engages the coupling roller 25 withthereverse driving roller 1S for a short interval of time. yDuring thatinterval the yarn guiding drum 22 is turned in the unwinding directionso that a certain length of yarn is available to be seized by the yarnseeking and knotting devices 13e,

13d, 13e (FIG. 2) which form part of the tender and are y not furtherdescribed herein because they may correspond to those illustrated anddescribed in my above-mentioned co-pending applications, Serial No.704,983, iiled December 24, 1957 (now abandoned), and Serial No.728,139, filed April 14, 1958 both assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention.l i

While in the event of yarn breakage the lever 47 entrains the maincontrol lever 31 over a relatively large range of turningmotiorn, theentrainnient is only short when the yarn is present because then the armof lever 47 rather than its end 48 abuts upon the top of the yarn guard37. This short entrainment, however, suiiices in order to temporarilyeliminate the driving connection between the intermediate roller 25 with15 and the Yyarn guiding drum 22.

When, during Winding operation, the yarn package on the take-up spool 21has reached a predetermined diameter, and the journalling frame20 islifted a correspondn f ing distance, a rod 102 is likewise lifted. Ashoulder disc 103 on the rody 102 then permits a lever 104, pivoted at104e, to turn counterclockwise under the biasing force ofa spring 1041;to a position in which a segment 105,

likewise pivoted at 104e, is entrained to follow the pivotal movement inthe clockwise direction. The segment105 is connected with the lever 104by a'biasing spring and has a slot traversed by a stop pinof lever 104.A'lever 106 pivoted at 106e to the arm structure 5 and biased by aspring 10611 for counterclockwise motion, normally rests against thecircular periphery of the segment 105. However, when the segment 105 isentrained by theV lever 104 and reaches the position illustrated in FIG.l, the lever 106 is released and snaps counterclockwise to theillustrated position of PIG. l. Thiscauses a push button 128 to protrudeout of the arm structure 5, thus signalling to the attendantv that theyarn package on the take-up spool 21 is completed.

When, due to lifting ofthe journalling frame 20, the lever 106 snaps tothe illustrated position of FIG. l, a lug 109 formed by an extension 107of the lever 106 catches behind the bell-crank lever 45 and locks it inposition. Now the lug 4S of the lever arm 47 is held arrested so thatthe connecting rod 46 is kept in lifted position and no longer continuesto follow the reciprocating motion of the swing lever 11. This stops thereciprocating motion of the horizontal connecting rod* 41 and of the,drive control lever 23. The 'intermediate coupling roller 24 is thuskept in the inactive position shown in FiG. 1. Consequently, the Winderdrive in the winding station is stopped; In this position of the rod 46,the

control lever- 31 also remains in the illustrated position. f

, spool core, the attendant depresses the push button 128.

This returns the lever 105 into engagement with the periphery of segment105 so that the above-described stopping and locking actions areterminated. The lug 109 is thus Withdrawn from the `bell-crank lever 45.The rod 102 drops togetherwith the journalling frame 20, and thelWinding operation is resumed.

The coil holder 38 fastenedjto the lower end of the y tube 6 carries apeg 67 for receiving the supply coils C.

The peg 67 is pivotally mounted 'so that the peg can be turned to theunwinding position shown in FIG. 1 or to a downward position in which.it can receive 'a eoilffromy j v the feeder means. Also mounted on thelower part of' tube 6 .is a doifer 63 for removing the empty coil cores.

The doffer is actuatedby ya Bowden wire whose active end protrudes fromthe tender 13. Details of the mechae. nism for the Bowden wire 65 andfor another BowdenV t wire y66 shown only schematically in FIG. 1,'arenot relevant tothe present invention and may he identical with thoseapparent from the above-mentioned copending application Serial No.728,139, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The Bowdenwire 66 serves for e turning the peg 67 counterclockwise when itis toreceive n a new supply coil that glides downward on a glideway 201.

The glideway 201 forms part of the yarn-supply feeder means of themachine and has just enough space to store one spare coil which normallyis held in position by a latch lever 203Y rotatable about a pivot 202.The spare' the driving roller 7 Bowden wire 66 is active to operate thelatch lever 2%, whereupon the spare coil glides downwardly onto the peg67, Whereafter the peg 67 turns upward to the illustrated unwindingposition. Thel supply of new coils to vthe glideway 2%1 can be eiectedin any desired manner, for example by means of a conveyor belt thatpasses along the row of winding stations in accordance with the machineillustrated and describedV in the copending application Serial No.153,244 of Reiners et al., tiled November 17, 1961, now Patent No.3,111,280, assigned-to the assignee of the present invention.

The devices `and components of the multi-station machine described sotar, have been explained for the purpose of conveying an understandingof. the invention proper now to be described. With respect to thedevices and components mentioned above, the three embodimentsillustrated in FIGS. l, 2 and 3 are identical.

Turning now to the invention proper, it is essentialthat the machine isprovided in each individual winding station with a control or switchingdevice which acts upon the Winder drive in the station in response tothe conditionof the supply-coil feed means. The control device comprisesa lever arm- 21@ (FIGS. l, 2, 3) which can rotate about the same pivot106a as the above-mentioned control lever 106 but is not connected withthe lever 106. That is, the parts 166 and 214? can perform rotationalmotion independently of each other. Linked to lthe lever arm 21Go is adrive control member which operates in response to the feed of supplycoils and which in the illustrated embodiments consists of the armature211 of an electromagnet or solenoid 212 energized from a current sourceneet in the control circuit ofthe electromagnet 212, in

lieu of the above-mentioned time-delay member 217, another feelercont-act which senses the `amount of yarn still contained on thefyarncoil being unwound. This principle otl control'is embodied in themachine illustrated in FIG. 2.Y

The machine is provided with the Vabove-mentioned feeler214 fordetermining whether a spare coil is located in ready position on theglideway structure 2M and which closes its contacts 215 and therebyenergizes the control magnet 212when a coil is absent vfrom the readyposition.

However, another pair of contacts 2 21 is connected in the.

same'control circuit in series with` the'feeler contacts 21S andisactuable by a feeler lever 226 which engages the yarn-coil beingunwound. When/the amount of yarn on the coil becomes depleted to a givenextent, the feeler lever 224i closes its contacts 221 and when at thesame time no new supply coil is located in ready position on theglideway lstructure 261, the feeler 214 also closes its ...are opened sothat the magnet 212 is deenergized. This 213. The energizing circuit ofthe magnetV 212 is controlled by a feeler 214 which responds to presence.and absence of a supply coil in the ready position on the glideway 291.When there is no supply coil in this ready position, so that the feed ofyarn supply is interrupted, the feeler 214 closes a pair of electriccontacts 215 which effect closing of the energizing circuit so that themagnet 212 is excited. The armature'211 is then pulled toward the leftand turns "the lever arm 210 counterclockwise. During such turningmotion, a lug 210b of arm 210 1s placed beneath the bell-crank lever 45in the same manner as is described above for the lug m9 of the lever167. Consequently, when the magnet 212 responds to absence of a supplycoil in the'feeder glideway, the winding operation of the station islikewise discontinued by disconnecting the transmission from the dniveroller 16 through the intermediate roller A25 to the yarn-guiding drum22, and a turning motion of the yarn guard 37, as well as a displacementof the tappet 5G are vagain prevented. Consequently, when a sparesupplyof yarn'isy eliminates the stopping and blocking conditions in thewinding station and the winding operation is continued.

In the embodiment described above with FIGS. l and 2, the windingstation becomes stopped before the yarnl supply coil on the holder peg67 is completely depleted of yarn. In some'cases, however, it isdesirable to stop the Awinding station only whenvthe supply coil isentirely exhausted, because then the travelling tender can beimlmediately called upon to perform the yarn-Mend seeldngand Y supplycoil and the yarn-clamping location along the sof missing in a-windingstation, the station-is stopped but4 the otherwise occurring automatic:servicing operations are not released andthe servicing tender is notcaused to stop at the station and to attempt yputting it back intooperative condition. l,

`In order to prevent the magnet 212V from responding each time adepleted coil is substituted by a full yarnsupply coil, a time-delaymember 217 'is interposed be'- tween the feeler contacts 215 Iand thecontrol circuit of the magnet. The timing period of the delay member 217is adapted to the period of time required for completely unwindinga'yarn-supply coil. minimum time needed for depleting a supply coil is 4minutes,ithe time-delay member 217 may be set for aV timing period of 3and one-half minutes.

For example, when thev Vopened by theufeeler v214i.

yarn path from the supply coil to the yarn-guiding drum. Thus, in theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a yarn guard 231' is pivotally mountedbetween the location of the supply coil on peg 67 andthe yarn tensionerT and normally rests againsttheV yarn between the tensioner T and a xedyarn guide such as a yarn cleaner 231b. When the supply coil Cisexhausted, the yarn guard V231 turns counterclockwise so that an arm231a closes a pair of contacts V230. Iffuatythis moment no new supplycoil has arrived in the ready position on the glideway structure 201,the contacts 215 are also closed so that the magnet 212 becomesenergized. For preventing the yarn guard 57 from turningtocontactfclosing position before the vbell-crank leverr45- is blocked bythe lug 2Mb, another v2*'7 in the illustrated positionof FIG. 3.

VAs soon as the conveyor or other feed means supplies a new coil tothereadyposition, the, contacts 215 are This interrupts the entire circuitof the current source 213vso that both magnets 2112 and 232 aredeenergized at the same time. As a result,

the lever 21u is'pulled back to the illustra-ted starting position bythe action of spring 216, .thus eliminating the blocking of thebell-crank lever 45. Furthermore, the yarn guard 37 can lnow turncounterclockwise because the magnet 232 is no longer excited. Now, thebell-crank 9 lever 45 performs its turning motion, driven by theconnecting rod 46, so that the hook end 48 abuts against the top of theyarn guard 37. As a result, the controllever 37 is turned clockwise aconsiderably greater extent and thereby releases the latching member 33which now displaces the tappet 50 with a projection 51 toward the rightin order to cause the travelling tender, running on the carrier 3 andrail 4, to be stopped and to perform the supply-coil exchange and thesubsequent seeking and knotting of the yarn ends.

To those skilled in the art it Will be obvious upon a study of thisdisclosure that my invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinillustrated and described above nor to being employed in conjunctionwith automatic coilwinding machines of the type described above. Theinvention is rather also applicable, substantially in the mannerdescribed above, in conjunction with other winding machines,particularly any automatically operating yarn-package winding machinesof various types and consequently can be given embodiments other thanthose particularly mentioned herein, without departing from theessential features of my invention and within the scope of the claimsannexed hereto.

I claim:

1. A yam-package winding machine comprising a row of winding stationshaving respective take-up spools and drive means therefor and havingrespective coil holder means and feeder means for supplying yarn coilsto said holder means; a servicing tender movable along said row ofwinding stations for tying yarn ends coming from a coil on said holdermeans and from said spool respectively, each of said winding stationshaving a tender control mechanism for normally controlling said tenderto operate at said station in response to absence of yarn, andveach ofsaid stations having a control devicek responsive to coil depletion ofsaid feeder means in said station and in controlling conenotion withsaid drive means for individually stopping the winding operation of saidsta# tion in dependence upon said depletion, said control device beingconnected with said mechanism for render# ing said mechanism inactiverelative to said tender, whereby said station lis prevented from causingsaid tender to operate during persistence of said depletion.

2. In a Winding machine according to claim 1, said feeder meanscomprising a coil-conveying member in each of said winding stations,releasable means for holding a yam-supply coil in a given ready positionon said member, said control device having a feeler engageable with acoil in said position and electric contacts operable by said feeler inthe absence of a coil from said position, and electric control meanselectrically connected with said contacts and aotuable upon said drivemeans for stopping the winding operation due to operation of` saidcontacts UNITED STATES PATENTS Rhoades Aug. 31, 1920 Furst May 8, 1962

1. A YARN-PACKAGE WINDING MACHINE COMPRISING A ROW OF WINDING STATIONSHAVING RESPECTIVE TAKE-UP SPOOLS AND DRIVE MEANS THEREFOR AND HAVINGRESPECTIVE COIL HOLDER MEANS AND FEEDER MEANS FOR SUPPLYING YARN COILSTO SAID HOLDER MEANS; A SERVICING TENDER MOVABLE ALONG SAID ROW OFWINDING STATIONS FOR TYING YARN ENDS COMING FROM A COIL ON SAID HOLDERMEANS AND FROM SAID SPOOL RESPECTIVELY, EACH OF SAID WINDING STATIONSHAVING A TENDER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR NORMALLY CONTROLLING SAID TENDERTO OPERATE AT SAID STATION IN RESPONSE TO ABSENCE OF YARN, AND EACH OFSAID STATIONS HAVING A CONTROL DEVICE RESPONSIVE TO COIL DEPLETION OFSAID FEEDER MEANS IN SAID STATION AND IN CONTROLLING CONNECTION WITHSAID DRIVE MEANS FOR INDIVIDUALLY STOPPING THE WINDING OPERATION OF SAIDSTATION IN DEPENDENCE UPON SAID DEPLETION, SAID CONTROL DEVICE BEINGCONNECTED WITH SAID MECHANISM FOR RENDERING SAID MECHANISM INACTIVERELATIVE TO SAID TENDER, WHEREBY SAID STATION IS PREVENTED FROM CAUSINGSAID TENDER TO OPERATE DURING PERSISTENCE OF SAID DEPLETION.